The Befores and Afters
by xWinter.Sky
Summary: This story contains two arcs. Before - before Mochizou leaves for Tokyo and After - when Mochizou returns. The timid Tamako and hesitant Mochizou will experience all the joy and the heartaches of having a love story. (Rating might change as we progress)
1. Before- Bittersweet

Hello, All! I've awakened and I'm back with a heartfelt tale.

Of Mochi.

This is the Before. Before Mochizou leaves Tamako to figure out Skype. Hmm.

_**Before**_

_Bittersweet_

It was exactly 6:45 A.M. on a warm Tuesday morning when Mochizou pulled out a letter from the university he had applied to from his mailbox.

_This is definitely bitter_, he thought staring down at the envelope. The results would be in this envelope; telling whether or not he would attend the university in Tokyo.

He remembered that day at the platform. He was only going to take an entrance exam and come right back. Mochizou was finally going to track Tamako down and clear things up. He was going to confess to her again and again until maybe she wouldn't have anything strength left to run away. He never, in his wildest dreams, would he imagine Tamako actually running _towards_ him.

_Mochizou!_

But the voice he heard was not the out-of-breath Tamako from that day but it was Tamako from the balcony. He turned feeling his heart almost ripping out of his chest and he shoved the envelope in his bag.

"G-good morning!" She called. Her glasses still on but her hair tied up with her signature mochi.

Heat spread over his cheeks_. After all these years_, he though, _after all the 'Good morning's, this one was different_. He noticed how Tamako would linger more often when she said her greetings, when she would normally run off to finish getting ready for class. But he was not innocent of this crime, he would linger too. It was worth being a few minutes late for class.

Mochizou could only walk her halfway to school; this was the rule that Midori had claimed. Other rules were: Tamako eating with them, and walking home with friends after practice. Mochizou was not a selfless person; his time with Tamako was precious but what Midori did not know was that Tamako packed lunch for him every day and they often spent time by the river where he confessed.

Tamako squeezed his sleeve right before she ran off to join her friends. Even this amount of affection made him a little dizzy and he covered his mouth to hide a blush.

They met after dinner by the river.

Mochizou was already there, sitting on the grass rather the steps. He ran his hands through the blades of grass and marveled at their calming feeling. Tamako's quick footsteps on the stone stair shook him from his trance. At the last step, she made a small hop towards him.

"E-Evening!" She squeaked.

His eyes linger at the small beads of sweat that had formed on her temple, _She must've ran here_, he moved his hand at the empty spot beside him and motioned for her to sit. She blinks almost confused but finds Mochizou's gentle smile and a shade of crimson spreading on his face. She tucks her skirt under her and finds he place only inches beside him.

One day, she thinks, that space won't exist. Her face grows hot and she presses her cool hand against her cheek.

"Today, I . . ." Mochizou begins tugging on the collar of his shirt, the night sure was warmer than the morning, "I thought the mochi you packed in my lunch was really cute."

"Oh! That." She laughs, "It was supposed to be you as a mochi. And the other one . . . was me."

He grins, "I guessed as much."

"How different do you think our lives would be if we could be mochi?" Her eyes unfocus developing the dreamy look she gets whenever she thinks of mochi.

He raises a thin eye brow, he's had enough experience with Tamako's strange thoughts on Mochi that it rarely shocks him.

"I think it would be great. Only it'll be a little hard to walk, dance or hold hands-" His voice trails off as his eyes linger on the beauty mark on Tamako's pale neck –Oh how he wants to travel the warmth of those planes. Tamako turns feeling his gaze and her blush becomes more evident.

"Mochizou?"

He realizes his mouth is slightly open and quickly sits up in a rigid position, "Being a Mochi would be great!"

She grins.

That's when he remembered the letter the university had sent him was in his bag sitting behind him. As he shuffled through his bag, Tamako brought out a lunch box delicately wrapped and placed it on her lap.

"What did you bring?" Mochizou asked pulling out the crumpled envelope.

"If you tell me what you brought I'll show you." She smiled timidly.

Mochizou tasted something bitter in the back of his throat. He knew Tamako could be a bit dense at times but, when it came to caring for others, nothing escaped her. Of course she had seen the letter in his hand at the morning. _I'm such an idiot_.

He showed her letter and her smile stayed, "It's the results from my Exam to Tokyo."

"Well, open it!" Her voice rang with excitement.

His hands tugged at the opening and pulled out the piece of paper folded inside. He looks up at her, her face glowing with happiness for him, but he knew from her trembling hands that she felt the same anguish that he did.

He bit his lip and unfolded it. The emblem of the school was bold at the top and he read the start of it to himself and as he read on his lips starting moving.

"-We are happy to announce your acceptance in our school. . ." He whispered

_So bitter. So very bitter._

"Tokyo's far," He hears Tamako murmur, "Tokyo's so far away."

He resists the urge to pull her close and instead says, "I know."

Her gaze falls to the wrapped box on her lap. He tosses the letter aside and places his hand over hers. The shaking stops and she looks up at him. She feels a slight stinging in her eyes from the tears threatening to fall but his steady golden gaze soothes her and she shoves the box towards him.

"Mochi! They're mochi," She squeaks, "We're trying a new flavor for fall and I wanted to give you some."

Mochizou grins and unwraps the box. The mocha inside were carefully packed with the familiar touch of Tamako. He takes one and offers the box to Tamako.

Her hand reaches for the biggest one and takes a bite of it. Her eyes close in happiness and she hums with the joy of the sweet mochi. He notices a small piece of it by Tamako's mouth and forgets all about the one in his hand. His body moves forward, almost on its own. She opens her eyes just in time to feel the warmth of his mouth on her cheek. She stares wide-eyes and her face burns hot. He pulls back slightly and sees his reflection in them.

"Sweet." He says.

_Very Sweet_


	2. After - Mute

Hello!

Sorry for the long wait but here it is. The first chapter to the 'After' Arc.

Oh, Tamako, your obliviousness always amazes me but it's endearing.

_**After**_

Mute

Tamako knew she never really caught onto things at a normal speed. Never mind not noticing someone else's feelings, she was painfully slow with technology. But she had her reasons; most of her days were spent at school with her friends or at home working with her family. It was a small circle of activities that made up her treasured life. But eventually she would have to face this unknown realm called video chat.

"Okay, so next, go to your desktop and-"

"Wait!" Tamako's shriek caught Mochizou off guard, he jumped in his chair nearly losing grip of his phone.

"It says it's still installing!" She mumbles. He could picture her face flooding with red when she catches herself reacting before she can explain. He had the urge to jump on the nearest train to go see it. But this is what they were trying to solve; seeing each other.

It's been three weeks since Mochizou left for college. And two months since Midori and her other friends left. Letters were frequently passed between the two. Tamako insisted that Mochizou send her hand written letters. Mochizou argued that sending an e-mail would be quicker but Tamako retorted that "You can't keep e-mails in a box." He couldn't argue when she had a habit of slowly getting closer to him with every word she said to get him to agree.

After a small pause, Tamako started humming making Mochizou unconsciously smile.

"Tamako?" He almost whispers.

"Hm?"

He toys with a pen in his hand and his grin spreads, "W-what are you wearing?"

He hears what he could only describe as a gust of noise and panic on the other side of the call. She huffs and hears her adjusts her phone back against her ear. Mochizou lifts his hand and bites on his knuckle to keep a laugh from escaping. Tamako is still flustered by his question but quickly tries to regain composure and clears his throat.

"Mochizou!" She gasps, "Is this why you want to start video chatting?

He chuckles, "Nope. It's to see your reactions. And just. . . to see you, Tamako. Christmas is my only break but that's still a lot of time to wait to see you," His eyes flicker to the framed photograph of him and Tamako by his bed, " I really want to see you."

Out of habit Tamako looks over to the her window, where across, was Mochizou's former bedroom. Most of his things were there but the lights were always off and the curtains always shut. She bit her lip and nodded, "I want to see you too."

A ding coming from her computer made her look up, "It's finished installing!"

He sighs his relief, "Great. Now just log in and make sure it connects to your camera."

She wishes that he was here to help her finish but that would eliminate the whole reason of going through this in the first place. So, as quickly as she could, she finished up the installation and typed the number that belonged to Mochizou.

"It's dialing! It's dialing!" She raised her arm in victory and she felt her heart flutter with excitement.

Mochizou spins on his chair when he hears the program's ringtone and smiles. His hand flies over the 'answer' button and a window with Tamako's face appears. Her hair is longer than when he left and undone. Her glasses were on but slightly off place. Her wide eyes also mirrored his amazement and their frustrations of dealing with technology lifted off their shoulders. He small hands flew to cover her mouth in excitement. He hit 'end' on the phone in his palm, "It's gonna be so easy to talk to each other now."

He could feel himself deflate as Tamako flailed her arms and started showing him pictures that were on her lap. Her mouth moved and her eyes glowed but there was no sound emanating from the speakers.

"Tamako!" He mutters, "You muted your mic."


	3. Before - First Touch

Welcome back!

I'm really enjoying this. But my laptop replaces all the 'mochi's with 'mocha's. Hmm. Today, we will enjoy their growing their growing relationship even more. So, get a cup of warm tea or a nice lemonade and enjoy.

I have coffee. Always coffee.

**Before**

Touch

It used to be that even looking at her filled his heart with adoration and nearly paralyze him. Her wide cerulean eyes would find him, so easily and carefree, and her small mouth would widen into a grin and she would simply say her greeting with such delight that he felt his chest tighten.

Yes, that was plenty.

Or so he thought.

It was all that Mochizou could handle with his pure youth.

Tamako was always carefree and painfully oblivious. At first, when they had said how they felt about each other, she would walk beside him. Not as close as she used to; when she would walk close enough for their shoulders to brush and she would talk fervently would her father's mochi shop. Her eyes lit up and her hands gesturing violently trying to form a ball of mochi with the air around her. That was before he confessed. After their walks always seemed to have more space between them. Her chatter was less lively.

Tamako was also very aware of the space between them. Mochizou was – _is _now her boyfriend. Boyfriend. Every time she looked at him, really _looked,_ it wasn't just taking notice of a friend. No. This was different. Mochizou was her boyfriend and every time her mind came to this abrupt realization her heart felt like it would give out. So, now, she was forcing herself to be aware of him, of his feelings, but that made her a little too aware of his presence. Of how he always smelled like powdered sugar, soap and something so _Mochizou_. Her body always seemed to pull her away, for the safety of her heart.

"Tamako?"

His voice surprised her brought her back to reality. They were on their way home. Their school bag heavy over their shoulders. Her feet stumbled a bit, "Y-yes?"

He cleared his throat and his eyes flickered from the stretch of road ahead of them to her, a growing patch of red on his cheeks, "I-is something wrong? You kind of stopped midsentence."

Her face grew hot and he chuckled seeing her blink rapidly and search for words.

"Sorry!" She squeaked, "I was- What was I saying? I think it was about my sister this morning. She. . . Oh! She ate the mochi I was saving." She giggled remembering waking up that morning to find a bit of crumbs on a plate in the fridge.

Mochizou laughed, "That sounds like her. But. . . you were actually saying something about practice tomorrow."

She's nervous, he thinks, we're both nervous.

The air around them feels like it's changing, not in a harmful way but almost encouraging them to compose themselves and enjoy the warmth of spring.

She take a side step closer to him and he tenses but he smells the light scent of her shampoo and relaxes a bit.

"Oh, that," Tamako bites her lip but takes charge of her fluttering heart, " Practice is cancelled for tomorrow. They're prepping for graduation." The last word is almost a whisper but it's a heavy thing for the both of them. It was as if just speaking the word could speed up the time they had left together.

"Ah," He says flatly.

"But, I was wondering . . . should we do s-something?"

Her wording makes his face burn hot but he shakes the thought away. Something. Like a date!

His content makes his head feel light. He rarely spent time with her alone. Her life was filled with love and friend, as it should be, but he couldn't help but feel greedy every time he saw her. He wanted to spend more and more time with her that way the uneasiness of a brand new love would leave their shoulders feeling light.

"Of course!" His voice nearly cracked and she grinned hiding a giggle.

That's when he realized just watching her wasn't enough. Graduation was only a few more weeks away. He hadn't told her that he already had boxes ready to be packed. That would be for another bitter day. Not today. She was closer to him, her head right by his shoulder and they were nearing their homes. He looked away briefly, trying to find any onlookers that might ruin this moment and their embarrassment would leave a scar.

Coast clear, he thought. Tamako started to hum a familiar song and a fresh breeze brushed against their hair. This was defiantly the green light for this. He swallowed a great lump and moved his hand out of his pocket, slightly shaking and maybe even sweating, he reached towards her hand. If just seeing her smile nearly floored him this would send him to the grave.

With great pleasure, he humored himself.

He first felt the sleeve of her uniform and then the coolness of her skin. Her eyes widened but she didn't jump or run away. She dared a glanced at him but his eyes were hard on the road ahead of them. She smiled at this cute side of him and slowly opened her palm towards him and felt how warm his hand was against hers. His gaze moved to her finding her already smiling, he folded his hand over her delicate one and allowed himself to grin like a fool with this achievement.

They walked the rest of their way in happy silence.


	4. Before - Home

At last! I'm here with an update. I have quite a few more chapters in the works, so, please bear with me until the end. Grab some tea, buy some mochi and read ahead.

Psst, Mochizou and Tamako share a bed.

_**Before**_

Home

Love is new experiences. It's finding small and big things about the other person that you never knew existed. These are the thoughts that floated through Tamako's serene mind. Her eyes were closed and she felt her body incased in a warm, and comforting cocoon.

These were the recent discoveries she had made when she was pulled by Mochizou up stairs to his room:

The scent of his room always changed. One week it was it was cherries. The next, it was Cinnamon. It all depended on what was on display downstairs, at his parent's store. But, Mochizou, always smelled like powdered sugar. She once let it slip when they were sitting together. He laughed, his eyes twinkling with that mischief that seemed to be growing, "Well, you smell like strawberries!"

Second, he loved trains. Other than the one that always seemed to be in the center of his room, he had stacks of boxed ones in his closet. He said, he used to leave them all around his house until his dad tripped over them and threatened to throw them away.

And lastly, his sheets smelled like him. And they were just as soft as she imagined them to be.

Her eyes fluttered open. She was on Mochizou's bed, her head cradled in the space between his arm and his chest. She could feel his heart under her ear and she felt he own heart mimic the same tempo. His arm was under her head and around her shoulders, keeping her close while the other held one of her hands over his stomach. She let herself look up at him. His closed eyes and his lightly parted lips letting out small steady breaths told her that he was fast asleep.

Tamako pretended that there weren't empty shelves behind her or boxes taped shut by the door ready for their journey. Instead, she watched him breathe in and out. She squeezed his hand gently and smiled. Everything seemed natural with him. Meeting him in the morning was natural. Playing with his hair was natural. Letting her hands trace over his jaw and around his chin was natural. Ever so slowly and careful, she let her hand detach from Mochizou's. She missed his warmth the moment she let go and he mumbled something in his sleep. Her fingertips drifted to the bridge of his nose and she traveled to his mouth. They had yet to kiss, it was something so fragile still but just being this close to each other made her wonder what it'll feel like. Her fingertip found his cupid's bow and marveled at his soft skin.

He stirred and she started to pull her hand away but he caught her wrist. She looked up surprised, but his eyes were on her hand. He pulled her hand up and brushed his lips over her pale knuckles. He was still waking up slowly and, for a moment, he thought this was a dream where nothing was off limits and he let his mouth hover over her hand briefly until he opened her hand carefully and kissed her fingertips. A bit callused from her years of working with her family but his were no better.

"Mochizou. . ." He felt a shiver on his spine from her words that echoed over his chest and her wide eyes staring up at him, patches of scarlet over her cheeks. He lowered her hand back to his chest and held it there as he smiled down at her. Not once did he think they would share his bed this way. His own blush spread when thinking that it could go beyond this.

"Sorry." He murmured.

"No, it's okay."

Tamako," He gripped her hand tighter and moved so that they were face to face, "If I'm ever . . . too forward, or do something that makes you uncomfortable. Tell me. Please."

She laughed lightly and her hand drifted to his cheek, "You never make me uncomfortable."

His knees brushed against hers, "I don't have much time until I leave. I'm scared that I'll hurt you by being so anxious. But I'm just so glad to be with you. Even if we're drinking coffee or here. Everywhere with you, I'm happy. But, please, stop me if I'm too forward."

She shook her head, her mochi hairbands were on his nightstand and her hair fell over her shoulders. A few strands came apart and fell over her cheek, his hand moved to push them away but instead cupped her cheek as she grinned. Her eyes closed feeling the warmth of his touch.

"Tamako?" he murmured pulling her closer, to his chest. Her body fit perfectly against his, like finding a missing limb or a missing puzzle piece. He felt whole, he felt at peace.

"Hmm?" Her voice vibrating against his heart.

"I love you," He whispered leaning down to her hair, cradling the back of her head with his hand and bunching up her hair gently, "I love you," he repeated letting the scent of her shampoo fill his senses.

Her arms wrapped around his torso and she held tight, "I love you, Mochizou. Come back for me." Her words were muffled by the fabric of his sweater but he heard them, he felt them, clearly. And he felt the slight moisture from her tears. His own eyes began to sting.

"You're my only home, Tamako."


End file.
